LITTLETON — When it was clear that she had to evacuate her home in 2012, Kristen Moeller put her two dogs, Tigger and Roscoe, in her car first.

There wasn’t time to save much else as the flames from the Lower North Fork Fire were creeping closer each minute from the valley below their front yard. A friend threw some wedding photos in a bag and the pair scrambled to a waiting car.

When Moeller and her husband, David Cottrell, returned to the site days later, only a charred totem pole had survived. Their dream house, Cottrell’s extensive tool collection, their boat — all were gone.

More than two years later, the property remains scarred, with charred trees instead of a shady forest canopy. But they do have a new house — one that’s a mere 500 square feet — to replace the 1,200-square-foot one that burned.

Moeller, 48, and Cottrell, 49, are new members of a growing movement of tiny- house dwellers. Some actively seek the lifestyle, but some, like Moeller and Cottrell, are pushed by circumstances.

“The tiny-house movement is sort of an underground movement that more and more people are looking at as a viable option,” said John Weisbarth, co-host of “Tiny House Nation,” a TV show on A&E’s new network, FYI. Moeller and Cottrell’s house will be featured in an episode on Aug. 13 at 10 p.m.

“That’s kind of what (the show) is about. It’s about discovering families that decided they want to make this move, but they’re not really sure how,” Weisbarth said.

Moeller and Cottrell decided to go tiny after almost two years of wrangling with insurance loopholes and struggling financially (they only recently received a payout from the government). They lived in two friends’ basements, several Airstream trailers and even a home in downtown Evergreen.

It was painful revisiting their property. Ashes blew around and it was hot with the shade trees gone. They almost sold it.

Then, through reading blogs, they eventually discovered the economic benefits of building a tiny house. Soon they were negotiating with Cabin Fever, a Miami-based company that suggested they apply to “Tiny House Nation.”

Prices vary for tiny houses depending on the size, the construction company and labor, said Gayle Zalduondo, creative director for Cabin Fever. The lowest prices at Cabin Fever hover around $20,000, while a customized option with features (bathroom, kitchen cabinets and drywall) can be upwards of $50,000. Companies like Tumbleweed offer similar prices.

And if you do most of the work yourself, it’s a lot cheaper, Zalduondo added.

Moeller pitched the couple’s story to “Tiny House Nation,” and within two hours they were contacted. After that, they needed to make a decision.

“We’d still be hemming and hawing about what to do,” Cottrell said of their decision to apply. “We needed something to kick us in the butt and help us make a decision, and that was really it.”

“Initially, seriously, it was the adventure of it,” Moeller said.

The couple decided to go tiny before they got a final word from the TV show. And they do sometimes question it. It’s not that the house isn’t comfortable or modern. But they’re still adjusting to living in less than half the space they’d been accustomed to.

Stocking up on a month’s groceries in one trip to Costco isn’t an option anymore. When they both talk on the phone for work, they often distract each other due to the tight space. Their dogs, giant-but-gentle Rhodesian Ridgebacks, often take over the single couch in the living room.

But overall the space is comfortable, especially with 20-foot ceilings and the customized touches they’ve added, said Cottrell.

Cabin Fever designed their house from scratch, and Moeller and Cottrell added features like two compact but spacious back-to-back offices (they both work from home), an efficient solar-power system and a toasty wood-burning stove. There is no TV — they haven’t had one since they originally moved to the mountains in 2003.

“That’s our TV,” Moeller said of the several lighting strikes that lit up their view.

Customization is a major reason the movement is gaining popularity, said Zach Giffin, the other host of “Tiny House Nation.” He has lived tiny and built tiny houses for several years, and he said the structures aren’t glorified RVs, despite building codes and what some might think.

“I feel like there are very few people who can live in an RV — I couldn’t — and have it feel really comfortable like a home is supposed to,” Giffin said. “Tiny houses are customized to each specific person. Everybody gets to feel like their place is theirs.”

Giffin and Weisbarth see three key reasons why people are gravitating toward the tiny-house life: economics, minimalism and mobility. Environmental reasons motivate many people, too, said Weisbarth.

“If you’re doing it because it’s an economic thing to save money, that’s great, because it is,” Weisbarth said. And a house with a smaller footprint is also sure to have a smaller environmental footprint, he adds.

Cottrell and Moeller embrace the environmental aspect of living tiny. Solar energy powers the house entirely, and it’s heated by in-floor radiant heat and an efficient wood-burning stove. With half the house to heat, they expect their energy costs to be much smaller this winter.

In Denver, people cannot live in RVs or trailers, said Andrea Burns, communications director for the city. Many tiny-house dwellers put their houses on wheels to mobilize them, but the city considers those RVs.

There are also minimum-square-foot laws, said Burns. In Denver, at least, one room must measure at least 120 square feet, and other rooms (except for bathrooms and kitchens) must be 70 square feet.

Advocates of tiny living often disagree with the laws, but Burns said they don’t make tiny homes impossible to create in Denver.

“Denver is very open and welcoming to the idea of smaller living spaces in general,” Burns said. “As long as they meet our safety codes and our quality-of-life codes, we think it’s great.”

The thought of scaling down to 500 square feet — actually on the big end of the tiny-house scale — might seem extreme to some. But Weisbarth said the movement shouldn’t overemphasize square-footage numbers.

“What is minimalism and what is tiny is a relative term,” Weisbarth said. “Just reducing your living space is good.”